Bangkok hopes this will lead to larger goal of starting dialogue between junta and resistance forces.

Thailand will establish a humanitarian safe zone and deliver aid to displaced people living on its border with wartorn Myanmar, the Thai foreign minister said Friday, a move it hopes will achieve the larger goal of establishing dialogue between the military junta, ethnic armed groups and the civilian government-in-exile.

 

The plan will serve some 20,000 people in three towns in Myanmar, Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said at a press conference in Mae Sot. Thailand plans to begin delivering food and medical supplies within a month, he said. 

 

Fierce fighting during Myanmar’s three-year civil war, sparked by a military coup in February 2021, has forced more than 2.6 million people across the country to flee their homes, according to United Nations estimates. As of Jan. 29, roughly 190,000 of them are in Kayin and Kayah states, along the western border of Thailand, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. 

 

“It is good to have a chance to observe the area here in Mae Sot. It is suitable to be a base for humanitarian assistance, which will happen soon," Parnpree said on Friday’s visit to the border.  Thailand has not disclosed the exact location of the safe zone.

 

By RFA Staff

Top photo: Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs Panpree Phitthanukorn, in gray jacket, at Mae Sot's Rim Moei market on Feb. 9, 2024. (RFA)

 

Full story: RFA - Radio Free Asia 2024-02-10

 

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Too little, too late.

The Burmese Junta has been murdering and arresting its citizens for more than three years already.

House committee welcomes humanitarian aid plan for Myanmar

 

 

Thailand’s plan to send humanitarian assistance to displaced persons inside Myanmar should be followed by a more active role by the current Srettha government in helping find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the country, said chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs Noppadon Pattama.

 

“It is a good starting point. In fact, it’s something that should have been done long ago,” said Noppadon in an interview with Thai PBS World.

 

He said humanitarian assistance is part of the five-point consensus of ASEAN designed to help resolve the crisis in Myanmar and as its immediate neighbour Thailand is in a unique position to help push it forward.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-02-10

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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1 hour ago, webfact said:

In fact, it’s something that should have been done long ago,” said Noppadon

And why wasn't it?

Oh wait. Burma - illegal military junta - so was Thailand.

A bit late, but better late than never,

These people have suffered so much. So sad,